Troaria Sampson wanted to be a mom.
But Sampson, who weighed 360 pounds and had diabetes, said her doctors in Robeson County discouraged her from pregnancy, warning that her baby could die.
In 2015, after trying for five years with her husband, Sampson got pregnant at age 27 — a milestone that should have excited her but instead filled her with guilt and dread.
“There are people like me who don’t have insurance and are being judged by their outer appearance,” said Sampson, who is Black and worked at the time as a cashier at Food Lion. “But it didn’t lessen my want to be a mother.”
Sampson visited doctors in the early weeks of her pregnancy, but many women in Robeson County do not receive such prenatal care that health officials say is crucial for the well-being of mothers and their babies.
Robeson is not considered a maternal care desert,according to the March of Dimes,which tracks access across the country UNC Health Southeastern in Lumberton says it delivers about 1,200 babies each year.
But Robeson ranks last among North Carolina’s 100 counties for the percentage of pregnant women who receive early prenatal care, with 53% visiting a doctor during their first trimester, according to Healthy Communities NC.
Other counties in North Carolina’s Border Belt aren’t far behind, with about 56% in Columbus County, 58% in Scotland County, and 61% in Bladen County, data shows.
The state’s goal is for 80% of pregnant women to receive health care during their first trimester by 2030.
For more of this story, visit our colleagues at Border Belt Independent.